The present invention relates to latching mechanisms for oven doors and, more particularly, to oven door latching mechanisms usable in combination with a self-cleaning oven of a kitchen range.
Initially, ovens for domestic use were provided with pivotally mounted doors having a heavy duty spring thereon for biasing the door into the closed position. However, with the advent of self-cleaning ovens utilizing high temperature cleaning cycles, it became necessary to develop latching mechanisms for holding the door in a sealed relationship with respect to the oven cavity. A number of types of oven door latching mechanisms for self-cleaning ovens have been developed over the years. One type of oven door latching mechanism is exemplified by Fox U.S. Pat. No. 3,367,697. The user of the appliance must manually move an actuating handle to engages and latches the door in the closed position before initiating the self-cleaning cycle of the oven.
Another type of latching mechanism for an oven door is exemplified by McLean U.S. Pat. No. 3,831,580 and Peterson U.S. Pat. No. 4,163,443. These mechanisms have eliminated the need for a handle to latch the oven door and use a latch bolt moving longitudinally and simultaneously rotating upon engagement with a latch pin. Subsequent to the latching operation, the latch is locked in its retracted position by a thermally responsive interlock for preventing the latch from operating during the self-cleaning cycle of the oven. However, the latch bolt extends from the oven body and is in a position which would allow it to be accidentally tripped by the user when the oven door is not in position to be closed.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a novel and effective oven door latch mechanism for use in combination with a self-cleaning oven of a kitchen range.
It is also an object to provide such a latch mechanism with novel means for locking the latch in the closed or latched position during high temperature operation of the oven.
Another object is to provide such a latch mechanism which has a door sensing element to prevent accidental latching or tripping of the latching mechanism.
It is a further object to provide such a latch mechanism which is relatively inexpensive to fabricate and durable in operation.